Soul Position is an American hip hop duo hailing from Columbus, Ohio, consisting of DJ/producer RJD2 and rapper Blueprint. They have released two albums and one EP on Rhymesayers Entertainment.8 Million Stories is the debut full-length album by American hip hop duo Soul Position, released on October 7, 2003 on Fat Beats Records, under license fromRhymesayers Entertainment. An instrumental version of the album entitled 8 Million Stories: Instrumentals was also released.

Review (rapreviews.com) la perfezione incarnata cd:

If you peeped the "Unlimited EP" by Soul Position, then there's little doubt you were highly anticipating the release of "8 Million Stories." Few things in life are worthy of a perfect 10 (except perhaps J-Lo's booty) but Soul Position's last release achieved that rare mark on the strength of Blueprint's stellar rhymes and RJD2's fabulous beats. Both have and are perfectly capable of making a mark in hip-hop on their own, but their union formed a hip-hop superduo of stellar abilities whose sole goal was to achieve even greater musical heights together. While underground rap fans fiended for the follow-up like a junkie does smack, Blueprint and RJD2 labored in the studio like chemists until at last they came up with the perfect hit. Without a doubt, unlike Bill Clinton, Soul Position both wants and ENCOURAGES you to "Inhale":

"I'm willin to take trips into the dark and unknowncorners of your subconcious where the climate's coldUse me, to the foolish it'll never get oldForget about her thingies and the things you've been toldSome people use me as a courtesy for things bought and soldLet me be an example of how to break the moldUse me as an innocent, you need to break the holdUse me 'til I'm gone, use me 'til I'm gone"

Even KRS-One never dreamed about being this blunt. Blueprint is the type of rapper who you might suspect was either born different or did hits of acid at some point in his life, because his mind conceives things in a way the average person simply can't, yet relates them to the listener in a way that they might get a glimpse inside his stark reality. "Look of Pain" epitomizes the dichotomy - lyrically 'Print is on another level, but RJD2's harsh yet oddly melodic production brings him down to Earth so that he can communicate with the rest of us about the world:

"I've seen cracked shells in broad daylight on park benchesOld folks watchin from the window in they kitchensConvinced the police don't care and won't listenHopin that they got some undercovers takin picturesThey ain't tryin to be the ones that gotta save the systemFor every five thugs, maybe one'll go to prisonThe other four are left to intimidate the witnessGo to trial against them and you might come up missinLookin at the odds it's a no-brain decisionUnless you wanna jeapordize your family and childrenSo they keep they eyes closed, continue feeding kittensThen open up the blinds again when the sale is finishedThen hope that dope never invades they fam, buthow would you cope if yo' moms was smokin grams?"

You might think such a brutal examination of humanity's failings would make Blueprint a bitter cynic, but it's his very ability to talk about what's on his mind and reveal the truth that gives both him and the listener hope. The aptly named "Survival" featuring Greenhouse Effect is just such a case, where Blueprint shows that he hadn't given up the struggle by a longshot:

"Leavin no stone unturned, my eyes burn for higher learninPushin my pen to deconstruct, like like a surgeonDetermination, it takes great patience to operateinside closed minds with limited time"

Combined with scratched in samples of Inspectah Deck from "C.R.E.A.M." the total effect is a masterpiece of vivid musical colors in both dark and light, counter-balancing each other into a perfect whole. Blueprint and RJD2 paint broad strokes, matching moody beats with powerful messages, and then surprising the listener with simple yet engaging raps like "Candyland Part 1" where Blueprint takes a journey into the world of TV:

It might read like nothing more than a list in print, but hearing Blueprint speak each word clearly evokes a different memory, causing him to pause longer on some and give more emphasis to others - and as a song is undoubtedly designed to evoke the same feelings in the listener. You can't underestimate the amount of thought that went into the song, and why RJD2 chose the specific beat that he did which helps you trip down memory lane along with 'Print. The same effect can be observed on the soulful groove of "Share This," where RJD2 and Blueprint work together to give off a positive vibe. It's personal, poignant, and powerful:

"Study this as you study your first bornMy first song was pain, personified in songThe longest sequences looped for days onWhere bass kicks are fierce, and snares are knownto drop a lot quicker than a child's tearsAnd drown out the drama that I didn't want to shareThe load that I wouldn't wish upon my enemies to bareThe times I used to tell myself you didn't want to hearuntil the reason in my rhyme became clearNow what I write makes the load a lot lighterThe story of my life epitomizes imperfectionas a musical, where every scene seems to lack directionAnd I stand center stage, stunned by what's happeningBlinded by the lights, cameras, actionAlthough I never asked for this lead roleIt seems that God decided it a long time agoI was chosen for this - given the giftto gain and, maintain the crowd's cheersI break, bread over beats with like-minded peersAnd share the story of my last trip into the atmosphere"

In the rap world MC's clearly exist on different levels, and as the ground is to the sky Ma$e is to Blueprint. Rappers who can only talk about their flashy cars or flashy jewels are unable to see the hidden jewels inside their own souls, but Soul Position is aptly named as their ability seeks to find the place in the mind that goes beyond the shallow waters of materialism into the hidden depths of humanity. Don't get it twisted on some hater shit - there's nothing wrong with enjoying the superficial every now and then. If one can't enjoy the simple pleasures in life now and then, what's the point in living? Nonetheless if you're fed a diet of nothing but candy, sooner or later you're going to crave the nourishment of fruits and vegetables. "8 Million Stories" is nourishment for the ear that feeds the soul. Thanks to Blueprint's clear diction, well thought out lyrics, and his ability to relate to the audience the words shine as bright as the night sky. Thanks to RJD2's musical wizardry, clean audio production and ability to create wholly new sonic landscapes, the telephoto lens is applied to make those stars even more vivid and bright. Once you listen, you'll never be able to look at rap's landscape the same way again.

Music Vibes: 10 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 10 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 10 of 10

Review (prefixmag.com) per loro e' meno bello :

One year ago, Blueprint and newly crowned super-producer Rjd2 paired up on Rj's stellar album Deadringer. The results were lukewarm; while nothing to scoff at, "Final Frontier" was easily overshadowed by other more amazing tracks on the album. Unlimited, an EP released by the duo under the moniker Soul Position, gave the world a small dose of the possibilities between these two, and that fleeting taste has evolved into 8 Million Stories, which, plain and simply, is one of the year's best hip-hop albums.

One of the few knocks on Deadringer was the lethargy of the tracks that featured emcees, so a crucial question remained for Stories: Could Rjd2 meet expectations for a full length backing an emcee? He brings his trademark beats, combining vintage sounds with more contemporary elements to anchor the album, but he absolutely opens the floodgates on Stories. Exchanging the sample-heavy sound of Deadringer for more instrumentation and an astounding amount of melody, his production adds a much needed yin to hip-hop's testosterone yang.

Sublime production from Rjd2 is to be expected at this point in his career, but the album's most pleasant surprise is the way Blueprint refuses to be pushed into the background. From the cathartic self-exploration of "Share This" ("Tilted, my flowerlike childhood wilted when my innocence was uprooted / Plus the water we gave to it stayed polluted like the veins of cocaine users / My bloodstream's still a little murky") to the hilarious storytelling of the lead single "The Jerry Springer Episode," ("She had an attitude of monumental magnitude / Couldn't take her anywhere without the broad acting rude / Even with your family she had no gratitude / I took her to my mom's crib, she started snapping on the food") to the playground nostalgia of the "Candyland" interludes ("Fat Albert, Flintstones, Force 5, Foghorn Leghorn / G.I. Joe, Ghostbusters, Gigantor"), the album becomes a showcase for his versatile styles.

Blueprint sets the tone, touching on subjects from hilariously dysfunctional relationships to the social role of today's hip-hop artists; Rjd2 follows suit with a beat for every mood. While Print speaks on the absurdities of the 9 to 5 grind, Rj samples Office Space, the most revered film of the overworked and underpaid (as well as one of the most underrated flicks in recent years). When Print shifts his attention to the limitations of inner city youths, Rj offers a fittingly claustrophobic descending chord progression. Always working on the same page, the pair succeeds on nearly every level imaginable. The two cover nearly as much ground as Mr. Lif's I Phantom, but less as prophets of doom than as keen observers, pointing out the idiosyncrasies of modern society, yet always maintaining hope. And these keen observers can rock.TOTAL 8/10

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